Introduction
The
Mark Levinson No. 336 is the most powerful of Madrigal's second
offering of their 300 series amplifiers. Rated at 350 watts per channel
into eight ohms, 700 watts into 4 ohms and 1400 watts into 2 ohms, this
dual mono, single-chassis power amp is designed to handle the most
challenging of impedance loads on the most demanding genres of music.
Priced at $9,500, the No. 336 replaces the No. 333. As compared to the
No. 333, the No. 336 has slightly modified industrial design and
different heat sinks than the No. 333, but it takes a trained eye to be
able to tell the difference without bending down to read the front
faceplate. Listening to a No. 336 vs. a No. 333 is a different story.

The
No. 336 is a tank, as you'd expect with a beefy 350-watt-per-channel
amplifier. One man can not lift it alone. In fact, it comes with two
sets of nifty gloves so that you and your strongest buddy can place the
amp in its upright and locked position in your listening room. Once you
have it positioned (my No. 336 is located between my two Wilson WATT
Puppies, closer to the left speaker than the right), plugging the No.
336 in is the next logical step. I ran into a problem because the
two-meter cord for the No. 336 wasn't nearly long enough to both
discreetly hide the power cable and still reach the closest A/C
receptacle. Madrigal has a solution for this in a factory two-meter
extension cable, which I special-ordered. The last step in getting
rockin' with a No. 336 is hooking up your interconnects and speaker
cables. Obviously, you know whether you are going to run your No. 336
balanced or unbalanced. If you want to run it balanced, you must remove
the small pins that short out the balanced connections. I recommend
tastefully taping them with, say, a little clear packing tape to the
back of the amp and/or safely packing them in the No. 336's box for
possible future use. Hooking up your speaker cables is a snap with the
No. 336's hand-twist knobs. They effectively avoid the natural urge to
crank down on the connections too tightly.

Once
you are done with the physical set-up, be prepared for a prolonged
break-in period. I am not going to tell you not to listen to the amp,
because I couldn’t resist and I don’t expect you to resist, either. I
cannot stress to you more strongly that you need to repeatedly play a
CD for two or three weeks, even at low levels, to get this amp up to
its full potential. Madrigal recommends 400 hours or more of break-in
and I don’t disagree with them. Out of the box, ice cold, the No. 336
shows off some of its strong points – it’s very quick and dynamic - yet
it takes the full break-in period to hear the highs smooth out and the
No. 336 to really warm up and become more three-dimensional.

The Music
It was evident as soon as the No. 336 was broken in that it was a
faster, more refined amplifier than the No. 333. A good example of this
attribute was found on Paul Chamber's bass line on John Coltrane's
Soultrane (DCC Jazz reissue). As Trane's sax sings way in front of my
WATT Puppy's physical limits, Chamber's bass line wasn't just solid, as
you'd expect from this kind of 350 watt powerhouse, it was specifically
detailed. You could hear the resonance of the instrument and Chamber’s
unique phrasings, especially as he climbed up the fretboard.

The
No. 336 is a very precise amplifier. While listening to "The Way You
Look Tonight" from Sinatra Reprise - The Very Good Years (Reprise), the
No. 336 went places emotionally the other amps I have heard, including
the No. 333 and the Jeff Rowland Model 112, couldn't go. The No. 336
has a presence and power that implied Ol' Blue Eye's Rat Pack swagger
in front of a phenomenal arrangement. The orchestra benefited from an
extremely wide soundstage, far beyond the physical limits of the
speakers. There were moments when the trumpets sounded shrill. To a
degree, this is the way the instruments are meant to sound when played
live. Beyond that, the trumpets could have been affected by the live
nature of my new listening room, which is only partially treated with
absorption. Nonetheless, the No. 336 is going to point out to you the
flaws, not just in your recordings, but in the rest of your system.
Other amps I have owned and auditioned can cover up flaws for you. I
thoroughly enjoyed my Sonic Frontiers Power Two tube amplifier for that
specific reason. It reproduced music in ways that were very enjoyable,
but not always most accurate. The No. 336 always lands on the side of
accuracy, which means that it requires an excellent front end, preamp
and cabling.

On more complex music like Earth, Wind and
Fire's "September" from The Best of Earth Wind and Fire Volume 1
(Columbia), the extra power of the No. 336 really comes into play. A
good friend of mine has a very efficient system, with Sonus Faber Amati
Homage loudspeakers (92 dB efficient, $20,000 per pair) and Nagra
50-watt tube amps ($13,000 per pair). While the Nagras are stellar
amps, they cannot create the threshold of sound while preserving the
impact and details in the manner of a big amp like the Mark Levinson
No. 336. With the No. 336, you get a great sense of liveliness on the
incredible vocal harmonies, coupled with rock-solid bass response even
at extreme levels. The high hat and cymbals did sound a bit bright, but
I am confident that this reflects less-than-stellar recording on the
album more than the brightness of the amp.

After
the Earth, Wind and Fire demo, I was inspired to see if I could find
the end of the No. 336's power reserve. When lesser-powered amps reach
their limits, they tend to lose their imaging, sound out of phase and
muddy in the low frequencies. Let's just say I never found the end of
the No. 336. One of the more telling tests was on "Fuel" from
Metallica's Reload album (Elektra). The dynamics are explosive on this
cut. I, rather than the No. 336, wasn't prepared for how hard-hitting
Jason Newsted's bass line was going to be at the intro, with my Proceed
AVP pegged at its reference level. The guitars were scorching, but the
most amazing element was how James Hetfield's voice jumped in front of
the speakers. At what had to be 105 dB or more this cut rocked hard in
ways I (and my neighbors - and the people walking 500 yards away on
Sunset Boulevard) had never heard before. I had to reach for the volume
knob long before the bass or the imaging ever gave out. Keep in mind
that WATT Puppies are 93 dB efficient, which means they use power
better than most loudspeakers on the market. However, listening to them
on a No. 336 was like driving a very lightweight race car with a very
powerful engine. It was impressive.

The Downside
The Mark Levinson No. 336 is a very stable, powerful amplifier. If you
were to break out every performance element of an amplifier, you would
rate the No. 336 very highly in each category, with scores of 8's, 9's
and 10's. There are amps on the market that sound sweeter: Sonic
Frontiers and the Nagras, for example. There are a few amps that may
have better bass performance, like the Krell FPB 600 and a select
number of pro audio amplifiers. What these other amplifiers lack is
consistently excellent performance - in each and every category -
across the board. Your hot button may be sweet vocal sounds or extreme
bass impact. In those cases, you may find a different amp that suits
your needs better than a No. 336. The No. 336 is less extreme but much
more consistent than other top-notch amplifiers.

The No. 336 is physically large and, in modern systems like mine that
are rack-mounted in custom furniture, it needs to be carefully placed
as to not make a professionally decorated room look like a recording
studio. I was able to situate the amp in a (to my eye) tasteful-looking
position near my speakers. If the idea of having a big amp on the floor
is too much to take in your system, there’s an alternative. Mark
Levinson recently announced that they have a mono version of the No.
336, called the 436, which is practically identical to a mono version
of a No. 336, but it is designed for rack-mounting and can be used for
applications such as center and/or rear channels.

If you are considering investing in the No. 336, as I have, you'll
really want to have the components further upstream in your AV system
upgraded to the highest expenditure that you can justify. The No. 336
is extremely revealing, which is anything but a downside. The downside
is that you may have to invest in a high-end CD or DVD-A front end,
because you'll find that you'll more clearly hear the weaknesses of
less than state-of-the-art CD and/or DVD players.

Conclusion
The
No. 336 is one of the best amplifiers made and among the best I have
ever heard. I include it in the lofty company of the Cello Duet 350,
Cello Performance II Amplifiers, Krell FPB 600 and the Jeff Rowland
Model 112. A No. 336 has all the power you'd need to light up
everything from very efficient loudspeakers like my Wilsons or Sonus
Fabers to more power-hungry designs from Martin Logan, B&W and
Madrigal's own Revel. The industrial design is excellent. The build
quality is even better. The No. 336's strong suits, its power and
speed, are perfectly suited for 24/96 DVD-Audio, as well as home
theater applications. With the addition of the 400 series amplifiers,
it is now easier to have an all-Mark Levinson 5.1 amplification system.
As good as DVD-Audio is, this makes a big difference and adds value to
this pricey gem.

Is the No. 336 worth the investment? If
you own serious loudspeakers and are looking for a world-class
amplifier to power them without a hiccup, then the answer is "yes." If
your system is not quite at the level at which you can justify nearly
$10,000 for an amplifier, you could make an argument for acquiring a
No. 334 ($5,900) or a No. 335 ($7,900), which utilize many of the same
technologies that have trickled down from the No. 336 and No. 333
amplifiers at a lesser price. The money that you save could be invested
in an upgrade to your CD or DVD source. If you are like me, you'll want
the extra horsepower, so you'll likely invest in the No. 336. It's far
from an inexpensive amplifier, but it's worth every penny.